Alternatives to Violence

[Yisroel Markov]

A Times of Israel article conveys frustrations and showcases
alternatives.
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Sa'Ir, West Bank — It is early afternoon in the center of this village
near Hebron — a village that was home to the highest number of
Palestinians killed in violence against Israel over the past five
months (in proportion to the population). Twelve youngsters from
Sa’ir, a village of some 18,000 that lies five miles northeast of
Hebron, have died in this latest wave of terror and violence, some
when carrying out attacks, others in clashes with Israeli troops.
Surprisingly, at first, however, we see no posters of shahids, or
“martyrs,” on the village walls. In most every village, city and
refugee camp, posters hail the local shahids. But not here. [...]

And why have the attacks halted of late? Jaradat describes an unusual
measure taken by the Palestinian Authority, in coordination with the
local village municipality, to try to prevent future attacks — a
measure that seems to be working.

“I’m raising my son to become an engineer, let’s say, or a teacher. He
should live in peace with his family, not go out to shoot anybody or
engage in a terror attack. That was our message to everybody here in
the village after all those shahids,” says Jaradat. “We conveyed a
message to the Israeli side as well: that it needed to do everything
possible to keep from killing young people, even if they were holding
knives.

“The (PA’s) governor of Hebron came to the village, and we arranged a
large meeting with all the dignitaries, clerics, teachers, school
principals, representatives of the security agencies,” the mayor
continues. ““Our message to all of them was: ‘We want our children
alive.’ My message as a leader and representative was, ‘I don’t want
the young people to commit attacks. I want them to live. Let’s keep
our blood. We don’t need or want there to be shahids every day.’

“We conveyed this message to the young people via the schools and the
mosques. We’ve tried to calm things down. Our goal was that people
would work voluntarily for calm, for quiet. And when the army removed
some of the roadblocks around the village, that also helped to calm
things down.”

What exactly did the authorities do in the schools? “The teachers and
the principals did not speak out against the shahids. We never
intended anything like that. But they did convey the message that a
pupil who does well in his studies, who gets a full education, is the
one who shows true sumud (steadfastness). He is actually the one who
is protecting the Palestinians’ right to this land. In other words,
those who remain are the successful ones. Not those who die. Those who
die are gone, finished.

“The same was done in the mosques. We stated clearly that we wanted
our sons alive and the village to go back to being ‘under control.’ We
conveyed messages using the local media outlets. We even told the
families of the shahids that we wanted no incitement.

Full article at
http://www.timesofisrael.com/why-has-a-hebron-village-home-to-12-recent-martyrs-suddenly-gone-quiet/
--
Yisroel "Godwrestler Warriorson" Markov - Boston, MA Member
www.reason.com -- for a sober analysis of the world DNRC
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"Judge, and be prepared to be judged" -- Ayn Rand